News Photo by Jonny Zawacki Hale’s Oliver Rice (11) scores on a layup despite being defended by Posen’s Darren Dubie (32) and Izaiah Hincka during the third quarter of a boys basketball game on Friday at Posen High School.

POSEN — Oliver Rice proved why he is one of the top players in the area as he and his Hale Eagles spoiled the annual winterfest game for Posen, defeating the Vikings by a final score of 69-58 on Friday at Posen High School.

“There is always a lot of things in every game that we can improve on, but I’m proud that we didn’t quit. This game could have got out of hand, but the kids didn’t let that happen,” Posen coach Chris Keller said. “We rely a lot on young players and that’s going to benefit us for years to come, but if you look at the beginning of the season to now, you see big improvements.”

The Eagles got off to a hot start and opened up a quick seven point lead, but this game would be much different than the first time these two teams met.

After falling behind 10-2 early, sophomore Jared Sharpe sent a wild Posen crowd into a frenzy as he connected on back-to-back shots from way beyond the three-point line to help the Vikings get to within two. Hale scored the next six points and the Vikings got a late basket to end the quarter trailing by six, despite holding Rice to just two points in the opening quarter.

Both teams went back and forth in the early stages of the second quarter as Posen did all it could to tie the game, but Hale continued to find ways to score.

Midway through the quarter, Posen cut the lead to five before Rice started finding his groove, scoring six unanswered points, including being fouled after making a three-point shot and connected on the free throw to complete a four point play to give the Eagles a double-digit lead with 2:30 left in the half as Posen eventually trailed 39-26 at the break.

“I just told the kids at the half that they have a choice to stay in this game and fight or let this game get out of hand,” Keller said. “Luckily and unluckily for us, playing from behind seems to be a familiar thing. I always tell them at some point in the game that conditioning and heart are going to pay off.”

The Vikings quickly got their crowd back into the game as they scored six straight points on the fast break to cut the lead to seven in the third quarter and forced Hale coach Joe Kimmerer to call a timeout.

The Eagles again responded out of the timeout, led by Rice who spent a lot of his time at the charity stripe and made the most of his opportunities. Rice added 10 points in the third quarter to help his team take a 16 point lead with under two minutes left in the period.

Again, just when it looked like Hale was going to run away with it, Posen ended the quarter making its final three baskets from behind the three-point line to cut the lead back to single digits as they trailed 55-46 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Vikings ran out of gas and into foul trouble as Hale went on a 10-1 run to open the fourth and take a commanding 18 point lead with just over three minutes to play.

Knowing that Posen was over the limit, the Eagles continued to get the ball into the hand of rice who was 12 of 14 at the free throw line and they began to play keep away, forcing the Vikings to foul and Hale was able to hang on for the win.

Rice led all scorers pouring in 24 points on the night. Ethan Cagle added 14 points and Joseph Weber chipped in with 12 points to help Hale improve to 8-4 overall on the year and stay atop the North Star League Little-Dipper division standings.

Posen was led by Sharpe who scored 12 points. Jeremy Misiak added nine points and Mark Wisniewski and Avery Werth each chipped in with eight points in the losing effort.

The Vikings fall to 3-11 on the year and 1-6 in NSL play. Posen will look to bounce back when they play Atlanta on Tuesday.

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HALE (69) — A. Garnsey, 2 0-0 5; E. Cagle, 4 6-7 14; N. Templeton, 2 0-1 4; O. Rice 5 12-14 24; J. Kimmerer, 2 1-2 7; A. Bovee, 0 0-1 0; J. Duford, 1 0-0 3; J. Weber, 5 2-5 12.

POSEN (58) — D. Schuch, 2 0-0 6; M. Wisniewski, 3 2-2 8; A. Werth, 2 4-4 8; J. Misiak, 2 5-6 9; G. Styma, 1 0-0 2; S. Brunet, 1 0-0 2; D. Dubie, 2 0-0 5; I. Hincka, 1 4-8 6.

Jonny Zawacki can be reached via email at jzawacki@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5690.